04 Dec Morrison the Muse

This week came the wonderful news that the great Toni Morrison will release her eleventh novel next April. That much in itself should get all lovers of literary fiction salivating at the prospect. The new novel is called God Help the Child, a title that brings to mind a woozy, swinging Billie Holiday tune ‘God Bless the Child’. We even have a preview of the opening lines: “It’s not my fault. So you can’t blame me. I didn’t do it and have no idea how it happened”. While waiting perhaps this is as good a time as any to (re)acquaint ourselves with Toni Morrison’s towering literary achievement: The Bluest Eye (1970); Sula (1973); Song of Solomon(1977); Tar Baby (1981); Beloved (1987); Jazz (1992); Paradise (1997); Love (2003); A Mercy (2008); and Home (2012). They’re all on our shelves.